Captain and her Sly Bastard (Zoro and Tashigi)
by Lothar1399
Summary: The Straw Hat Pirates had their dinner interrupted by the marines. Zoro runs into trouble with the marines, to be more exact... The trouble is Tashigi-chan. Fluffy story with Roronoa Zoro and his marine rival Tashigi. (In progress for now, until I decide what to do with it)
1. Chapter 1

**Sorry for not uploading in a while, been a bit busy.**

 **Anyway, I wrote this story about Zoro and Tashigi today. So enjoy! :)**

"There's a weird ship up ahead, Smoker-yan!" one of the marines exclaimed from the main mast. "Yes, a weird ship indeed." Smoker answered to his beard with a smile as he pulled out his jitte in anticipation. He recognized that weird looking ship from miles away. There was no doubt that it was that damn brat who smiled at his own execution.

"We're going after them, full sails!" Smoker yelled from the deck. Distracting the sleeping swordsman who fell asleep in her chair while solving crosswords. 'What's going on here? Why's Smoker-san yelling?' Tashigi thought to herself before stretching from her little sleeping session.

"Oi! Marines behind us, do we fight them?" Zoro yelled from the Crow's nest to his crew that was currently busy with more important things, such as playing on the grass and imitating each other. "Oi!" Zoro yelled a bit louder, but after getting no response the second time he just went back to his gym.

"Sir, that's their ship, isn't it?" Tashigi asked the vice admiral with a worried look. Nothing but a nod came as a reply, "Call backup, we'll need the the battleships to take these ones down." Smoker commanded one of his subordinates as he gripped his jitte in anger, if only he could beat that kid alone, he was surprised how much the Mugiwara improved over the 2 years of absence.

Back on the Thousand Sunny the dinner was just starting, the whole crew gathered in the dining room eager to try the new dish their cook has made, even though a certain swordsman didn't want to admit it. Just as the meal was about to be served a loud thundering noise could be heard from somewhere nearby.

The crew exchanged a few looks and as if they held a long conversation with their eyes they simultaneously exit to the deck. "Should I sink them?" Zoro asked as he gripped two of his swords. "No, you idiot, you wouldn't be fast enough and we'd have to take their cannons until you finally managed to sink them." Nami scolded the hot headed Marimo.

Zoro could do nothing but pout like a child at the scolding he just received. Franky and Usopp ran to the Coup de burst room, the Cola shaker was preparing itself for the lift off. The monster trio defended their ship from the cannon shots. The on going rain of cannonballs wasn't about to stop anytime soon, those were the battleships after all, they won't run out of cannonballs in the middle of the battle.

"Stop aiming at the ship, you idiots, aim next to it to make the ocean around them unsteady." Smoker yelled from the head of his ship. And just as the vice admiral ordered, the shots started landing next to the ship, half of the crew barely managing to stay on their feet.

The shots certainly weren't helping the Straw Hats, but the Coup de Burst was about to go off in a few seconds, and just as they were about to take off one of the waves rocked their ship to the side and Chopper slipped towards the water. The only person next to him was Zoro who was supposed to keep the right side of the ship safe while Sanji took care of the left and Luffy defended the back.

Chopper was falling towards the ocean just as the Coup de burst countdown started, 10, Chopper's body was just about to hit the surface of the sea, but Zoro managed to catch him in air when he jumped towards him. 7, Zoro held the reindeer on his shoulders and was about to throw him back on the deck while the reindeer cried as he understood the situation.

"Sorry, Zoro." the teary eyed reindeer with a cute blue nose whispered to his friend and crew mate. 4, Zoro smiled in response before answering, "No worries, I'll be fine." Not a second after the swordsman tossed the reindeer aboard the Thousand Sunny with precision, and the teary eyed reindeer in ball point landed onto the deck and ran to the door of his lab.

"Coup de bursto!" Franky's yelled echoed through the air as the ship left the swordsman alone in the ocean. Soon after the battleships came closer to the swordsman who was really not hard to miss with his bright green hair sticking out from the ocean's surface. "Do you mind giving me a ride?" Zoro jokingly asked the vice admiral that was now looking at him from his ship's deck.

"Sure, does Impel Down sound like a nice enough place to drop you off?" Smoker replied before ordering with his left hand for his crew mates to pull the swordsman out of the ocean. "Disarm him." Tashigi ordered them while looking angrily at the green haired swordsman in front of her.

Zoro smiled in response before answering, "Only if you can defeat me in a duel, Captain." the befuddled looks of the G-4 crew soon followed. "Does he really think that he can defeat Captain-chan?" the whispers started spreading through the crew like wildfire. She had to accept it, it would be dishonorable if she didn't and Zoro knew that very well, he also knew that if he lost his weapons that he'd surely go to Impel Down.

"Okay." the marine captain answered calmly as she drew her Shigure from it's sheath. Zoro smirked at the captain and her confidence before drawing his cursed sword. "I'll beat you with the one you recommended." Zoro replied in cocky manner making Tashigi glare angrily at the green haired pirate.

She charged with her sword towards Zoro, "Don't mock me, you damn pirate. Fight with all three of your swords!" Tashigi ordered the swordsman who easily blocked her attack with his sword. "Come to think of it, I've never gotten to know your name, Captain." Zoro asked while blocking the barrage of attacks. "My name doesn't concern you, pirate scum." Tashigi yelled out at the top of her lungs as she launched herself towards Zoro.

"You sure that's a good idea?" Zoro as he quickly slashed the air in front of Tashigi's throat before going back into his fighting stance. "Stop playing around!" she yelled at the swordsman again. Another attack dodged, his right foot stepped in her path and pulled her right foot a bit to the side. "Spread your feet a bit more, makes your strikes faster if you have a better stance" he said before parrying her strike once more.

"And straighten your shoulders before striking." Zoro whispered as he dodged to her side and passed her shoulder. "Shut up!" Tashigi ordered before going for another strike, this time almost piercing through his side. Luckily he hit the sword out of it's path with his own. "Make sure to always hit these kinds of attacks because if you miss, it's all over." Zoro whispered once again as he planted the sword's blunt side against her neck.

"I don't need your help! Finish it!" Tashigi glared angrily at her opponent whose sword was now against her neck. Her crew surprised at the skills the Pirate Hunter possesses just stared as their Captain's life hanged on the line. "Smoker-yan, help Captain-chan." one of the marines asked his commander, but was quickly silenced by a stern look from the vice admiral.

"Her honor, her decision, her life." Smoker answered through his teeth while being unable to interfere, he knew how she'd react if he did something like that, and he knew that Tashigi was already spared by the Pirate Hinter a few times. 'Do it again.' he prayed in his thoughts. And as if Zoro heard him, he lifted the sword of his opponent's neck.

"You're the one of the strongest marines I have fought in my life, but with that level of swordsmanship you're never going to get my swords, let alone Mihawk's." Zoro said to the defeated captain who still glared at him like she wanted to kill him, and she sure did, but as he stated she wasn't able to.

"Train me then!" Tashigi's yell echoed through the air as the other marines looked at their Captain-chan with confused looks. "No." Zoro replied calmly before continuing, "I won't train someone if I know nothing about them. At least show some respect and introduce yourself properly."

"M-my name is Tashigi." She uttered the words in a defeated tone before bowing to her opponent and her new teacher. "You happy now?" She looked up and saw Zoro bowing back at her. 'Like he has honor, stupid pirate.' Zoro looked back up and smirked at the swordsman in front of him, "When do we start training?"

Hours have passed and a big part of the marine crew still stood in a trance while watching their captain train under a pirate, the rest pf the men were being in charge of getting the ship to the closest town. The pair of swordsman trained until the midnight came, then they both bowed to each other and returned their swords to their sheathes.

"Why?" She asked the pirate she was now escorting towards the cells in the lower part of the ship. "Why not?" Zoro replied, trying to avoid the conversation. But the persistent captain insisted that he tells her the reason why he has spared her so many times. Finally under pressure the green haired pirate decided to tell her.

"You remind me of someone I knew, you two look very similar, well you used to look like her back in Loguetown and Alabasta." Zoro answered the persistent captain but she knew there was more so her constant questions didn't stop until he opened up more. 'To think that she was so interested in some pirate and his stupid reasoning' she scolded herself for her curiosity.

"We made a promise that one of us would become the greatest swordsman in the world, but she died the day after, only thing I got left from her is this sword." Tashigi now regret the fact that she asked about such a sad thing, but nevertheless she wanted to know more, how did a bad person like him get such a sword.

"How did you get that sword? There's no way that someone who hung around with scum had such a sword in his possession." Tashigi already angrily stared at the swordsman who just laughed in response before answering, "Hah, this sword was a gift from her father, I was his second best student at the dojo, he gave it to me so I could fulfill the promise I made to her."

"Dojo?" Tashigi looked at the pirate with a confused look 'To think that someone from a dojo would become a dishonorable pirate.' She thought to herself, but Zoro interrupted her thoughts. "She said the same thing to me, the same thing you said that day in Loguetown, she hated the fact that men are stronger and she didn't want me to surpass her."

"She was the best student at the dojo?" Tashigi now felt guilty over what she kept calling him, to think that he was just trying to fulfill his best friend's promise. But nevertheless, he could've chosen a better profession, not a pirate. As if he was reading her mind he answered, "Yes, I could've fulfilled my promise some other way, but Luffy saved my life when I was about to get executed by Axe Hand Morgan's son Helmeppo. I owe Luffy my life."

"Axe Hand Morgan? Helmeppo? How do you?" Tashigi looked at the swordsman even more confused than she was earlier, "How do you know those two?" Tashigi asked the swordsman. "You might not know this, but before Helmeppo started training under Vice admiral Garp, he was a spoiled brat who used his father's status to act as a tyrant back in the town his father was stationed in."

"I saved a little girl called Rika in Shells town from Helmeppo's dog that was terrorizing the town with it's owner. But he said that he would kill Rika's whole family if I didn't get punished instead, so the marines tied me up in the courtyard where I awaited execution of which I didn't know anything. Luffy and Coby helped me get out of my restrictions and I defeated Morgan soon after." Zoro finished.

"I heard different reports, there was no words about any pirates in Morgan's defeat." Tashigi answered the pirate hunter with disbelief. "Luffy only got a bounty after defeating Arlong in Nami's village. Of course they didn't mention any pirates when we didn't even have a bounty on our heads." Zoro replied to Tashigi's accusations.

'So he actually isn't as bad as I thought, so what, he's still a pirate.' Tashigi glared at the swordsman and opened the cell for him. 'Maybe he'll be uncomfortable in there without a pillow. No, he's an evil man, he deserves...' Tashigi's thoughts turtured her, why was she doing this. She walked over to one of the cupboards in the hallway and pulled out a pillow and a blanket for the pirate hunter.

"Here, you could get a cold if you don't sleep in a proper manner." Tashigi handed Zoro the pillow and the blanket, but just as she was going to hand him the blanket he gently pulled her closer to the bars. "You should stay with me, tonight." Zoro whispered. "Where did th-that come from, Pirate Hunter?" Tashigi replied with a stern look even though she allowed him to pull her closer.

He could've killed her hundred of times today, but he didn't because she looked like his, ex? That thought finally gave her the courage to escape his 'deadly grasp'. "I'm not your ex, don't try to sweet talk me!" She scolded Zoro for acting kind to her and threw the blanket at him before storming out of the prisoner's quarters.

"Ugh, you idiot, how could you fall for something that stupid?" Tashigi scolded herself as soon as she stepped out on the deck. "Sly bastard." She whispered before going over to her private cabin. "You're a bit too friendly with that pirate, Captain." a deep voice interrupted her thoughts from the dark corner next to her door. "Vice admiral?" She asked the figure that stood in the dark corner, her sight was certainly improved with glasses, but it didn't really help much in the darkness.

"Is that you, Vice admiral?" She asked again, before gripping her sword by it's hilt. "It's not Smoker-yan, Captain." Another deep voice answered from behind her before she felt an arm slither around her neck, the person held her in a headlock. She felt powerless, just when she wanted to scream the other person shoved a cloth into her mouth, silencing her.

Leave me alone, is what she wanted to scream out, but nothing could go through the cloth that now limited her voice. And just as she was starting to lose hope when she felt a rope around her wrists she felt a familiar aura. An aura she must have felt before because it was as if she belonged with it, something was calling for her.

A flashing image in her mind, a demon, the nine armed God Asura. "What's going on?" one of the marines asked with a terrified tone, "I felt that too, what the hell?" the other one answered quickly. A familiar sound of the sword she knew all too well, Wado Ichimonji was unsheathed. 'Wasn't Wado in a cell with Zoro?' she asked herself.

She closed her eyes as she guessed what would happen next, and she was right. The two lifeless bodies lay there beneath her feet, and her hands free of their restraints. She turned around to see the demon that did this. "What did you think? Why did I ask you to stay down there with me?" Zoro asked rhetorically before returning his sword into it's sheathe.

'He sensed them?' was Tashigi's first thought, but soon other more important things followed, 'He just signed his death penalty for me? Oh no, we're not going to Impel Down if these are discovered.' the thoughts plagued her mind. She felt like she was going to cry when his hand touched her hair, "Sorry about your crew mates if that's the reason you're crying." Zoro said while petting her hair.

Tears starting forming in her eyes, "You idiot, if they find out, they're going to execute you as soon as our ship anchors. Why did you abandon your life for a marine? Why did you-" her small rant was quickly interrupted by a hug, her rival and enemy hugged her. Her sobs and cries muffled themselves against his masculine shoulder. "I hate you." she whispered when her cries calmed down a bit.

"I don't mind." Zoro answered with a smirk, she could already see that stupid smirk of his even though her face was buried in his shirt. "Stupid pirate." she whispered into his shoulder. Her face redden in shame and embarrassment, 'How dare you hug a pirate, Tashigi?' she scolded herself mentally.

Her hands gripped his shirt, her poor attempts at pushing him away failed, "You want me to stop hugging you?" Zoro asked when he noticed her clenched fists that were gripping his shirt and attempting to push him away. Only response he got was an almost not noticeable nod. He returned his masculine arms to his sides and stood in front of the slightly shorter marine that was still gripping onto his shirt.

"Hey, you can't just say that you don't want me to hug you, but then try to pull me back." Zoro teased the Captain. "No..." she whispered as she tried pulling him closer again. "...I don't want you to hug me." she lifted herself up on her toes as she was finishing her sentence. Their lips almost touching each other, her hands still on his shirt.

"Tashigi." he whispered under his breath, her lips right in front of him, within reach and yet they seemed so far. The echo of his whispered like an earthquake, it sent shivers down her spine, 'Is this really happening?' she thought to herself as she came closer to his lips, brushing them slightly.

"Yes?" she meekly whispered out before letting out a soft moan as she felt his lips push against hers. "I hate you, Zoro." she said in between their kisses, but actions speak louder than words, and she knew that all too well.

 **The ending kind of seems unfinished in my opinion, so if you got some suggestions or if you want to see a Chapter 2, leave it in a review or PM me.**

 **Hope you liked it! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the reviews, and the love. :)**

 **Enjoy!**

He didn't know why he did it, and she didn't know why she did it. The clueless pair stood there in the middle of the hallway. The confused looks on their faces, only confused each other more. "I, um..." Zoro mumbled as he tried to come up with the explanation for returning the kiss.

Tashigi on the other hand didn't dare to utter a word, why would she kiss a pirate, "But it felt good." Tashigi mumbled angrily. 'Did I just say that out loud? Ah, I'm such an idiot.' Tashigi cursed herself. Her hands still having a hold on his shirt while he stood there with the dumbest expression one could do.

'Did she just say that it felt good? What the hell? No, I can't be with a marine!' it was Zoro's time to curse himself mentally at all this. Her hands finally separated from his shirt, "G-go to your c-cell!" Tashigi ordered the green haired pirate through her stutters as she tried to compose herself.

"O-okay." Zoro nervously answered. 'Since when do I stutter, ugh, I hate this women.' a frown formed on his pained face as he cursed himself for the useless stutter, before he obediently followed the order and backed out awkwardly out of the hallway towards his cell. "Idiot, idiot, idiot! He's a pirate, aaah!" Tashigi continued to scold herself as she made her way through the ship to Smoker's room.

After two loud knocks, a stern voice from inside the room answered, "Unless we're being attacked, go away!" Another two knocks quickly followed, "Oi, stop messing with me, if I get up you're on guard duty for all eternity." Smoker yelled from inside but was quickly answered by a meek voice from the other side of the door.

"It's Captain Tashigi. Sir, I require assistance!" Tashigi said, and a moment later a Vice admiral in his pajamas opened the door. "I know it's you, who else would have a female voice on our ship. What's the matter?" Smoker finished only to notice the worried look on Tashigi's face. "What? It's that Pirate Hunter?" Smoker asked once again and was answered by a nod.

"What did he do? Did he hurt you?" Smoker asked the captain before returning back into his room and walking over to his weapon rack. "Wait, you won't need that Smoker-san, he saved me, as much as I hate to admit it." Tashigi said shamefully. "He saved you? Then what's the matter? Did you wake me up to brag about his achievement?" Smoker now angrily answered, already fed up by the silent captain in front of him and her lack of information giving.

"No Sir, he saved me from two of our men." Tashigi took a deep breath before continuing her sentence, "He killed them in the S2 hallway." Smoker's eyes widened in shock. "Our own men attacked you?!" he yelled angrily before punching the wall next to him. "Let's go!" he ordered the captain as he put on his Vice admiral coat over his pajamas and walked towards the S2 hallway. "Sir, Sir, help!" a marine ran towards the Vice admiral with a horrified look on his face. "Two of ou-" Smoker interrupted the young man, "I know, does anyone else know?" he asked the scared marine who nodded in response before giving a report.

"Twenty five of our men went over to the prisoner's quarters and found one of the cells sliced in half and the Pirate Hunter sleeping inside of it. We're suspecting that he was the one who killed them, they are guarding him at the moment." the young man finished. "Okay, but the thing is, that those two idiots attacked Captain. The pirate protected her. What did you to the bodies?" the marine looked at the Vice admiral in confusion. "H-he did?" the marine uttered in suspicion. "Yes, now what did you do with the bodies?" Smoker asked once again as the three marines made their way to the prisoner's quarters.

"We rolled them in cloth and left them on the deck with a few other marines who are guarding them." the marine finished quickly. "Tell them to strip their tags of them and throw the bodies overboard, anyone who dares attack his captain isn't worth being remembered, they are disgrace to our ranks." Smoker finished. Tashigi meanwhile struggled with herself, 'I didn't tell him what happened afterwards, right? Yes, I didn't say anything, wait. Did I?' in the midst of the confusing night she forgot what she said to her superior.

"Yes, Sir, we'll throw them overboard!" the young marine said before saluting and running off to in a different direction. The silence that bugged her, the only thing she wanted to avoid this whole time, 'Why didn't he stay here, ahhh why did that guy leave me alone with Smoker-san?' Tashigi cursed mentally as she awkwardly walked with Smoker towards the root of all her problems, that damn pirate. "So, how was your day with the Pirate Hunter? Did he teach you any tricks with a sword or something?" Smoker asked Tashigi, snapping her from her thoughts.

"Ahh, tricks, he tricked me with his loo-" Tashigi quickly attempted to correct her sentence after she realized how her answer started like, "Looking trick, you see, it's a trick that you do by faking wh-where you look and slicing the other side of your opponent." Tashigi nervously finished her lie. "He tricked you with his looking trick? I asked if he thought you anything, not if he played with you." Smoker said to his nervous subordinate. "Pl-played?! You've got it wrong! We haven't done such things, we only kissed!" Tashigi blurted out to her Vice admiral who stopped in his tracks.

"You only what?!" the Vice admiral raised his voice at the Captain. "I mean, he, we only, I..." the flustered Captain nervously tried coming up with an answer quick enough but all her efforts seemed to be in vain. 'Oh no, oh no, oh no, why did I say that?' she cursed herself as she nervously fidgeted next to her superior who was currently giving her a stern look. "This is a serious matter, you know that right? You can get in all sorts of troubles for something like this." Smoker scolded the Captain that stood there silently.

"I always wondered how you two would end up together in every situation, I always thought it was just swords or swordsman related things, but I never took romance into consideration." Smoker thought out loud and continued making his way towards the prisoner's quarters. 'It's not romance, I hate pirates.' Tashigi kept assuring herself mentally. They were finally there, another marine greeted the pair at the entrance of the prisoner's quarters.

"Sir, the prisoner is no longer asleep, we splashed him with a bucket of water and he started beating up our men, we require assistance." the marine finished nervously as he held an ice cube pressed against his eyebrow where some swelling could be seen. "You idiots, why do you think I didn't disarm him myself yesterday, there's a reason why he has that enormous bounty." the Vice admiral finished and entered the area where Zoro was kept.

"Calm down, Pirate Hunter, it's a misunderstanding! You too guys!" Smoker yelled from the entrance. "Smoker-yan save us, this guy is a monster." a marine crawled to Smoker's feet with a busted lip and a bunch of bruises on his face. "Medics, help these guys! Where the fuck are the medics?" Smoker yelled up the stairs towards the guards. "Sir, the medic rooms are in the hallways S3, we were the first to react to the incident." the beaten up marine answered his Vice admiral who just facepalmed in response.

"Why did these idiots splash me with water?" Zoro yelled at the Vice admiral as he held one of his man in a headlock. "Wait I'll explain, you stay here." Smoker answered the angry pirate and ordered Tashigi to wait at the entrance. Smoker walked over to Zoro, his lean mean teddy bear flip flops slammed against the floor with each step, as he closed his distance with the pirate hunter who was on the verge of laughing, but managed to maintain a straight face with the help of a pinch that he held onto strongly behind his back.

Smoker sat down on the bench in front of the opened cell and started "Tashigi told me about everything." Zoro's eyes widened, 'Everything? Oh fuck!' Zoro's thoughts were all over the place, 'I mean, I know that she sometimes blurts out things, but everything?! What the hell?' Zoro thought as his ears completely skipped Smoker's speech, due to the importance of his own thoughts. "Thanks, Roronoa." Smoker finished.

'Thanks, what the hell? Was the kiss that good that it even affected the guy who was nowhere near? Hmm, that might explain why all these bastards attacked me, they were jealous for sure.' Zoro thought to himself before answering, "No, thank you. I didn't think that the kiss would have such an effect." Zoro finished with a grin from ear to ear. In front of Zoro now stood a fuming Vice admiral, whose devil fruit was currently cosplaying a smoke bomb unconsciously. "I didn't thank you for that, you idiot!" Smoker yelled at the top of his lungs as he lunched himself towards the Pirate hunter and punched him in the face.

"Oi, oi, are you jealous too?! You're supposed to lead by a different example!" Zoro yelled at the enraged Vice admiral whose anger was reaching it's limits at this point. "I'm going to kill you, both you and that stupid captain of yours!" Smoker yelled as he kept punching the swordsman who now returned a punch to the jaw swiftly. "Don't you dare insult my Captain, you piece of shit!" Zoro now started fighting back against Smoker with all his might, the punches hurt pretty hard, but it didn't matter.

No one could insult his Captain. The brawl lasted for a couple of hours after which both of the fighters lay on the floor attempting to push each other. The exhausted brawlers panted on the floor before their consciousness faded away at around the same time. The dawn's sunlight woke the fighters up as it entered through the window of Zoro's cell. The pair lay there in the same positions they had yesterday. And due to their injuries, the only thing hey could do now was talk.

"Morning." Zoro spoke first after noticing Smoker's half open right eye. "Morning." a response came quickly. "She just told me about you saving her life and she accidentally blurted out about a kiss. I honestly don't know how you survived this long with such a short attention span." Smoker said to Zoro who just frowned at the insult. "Anyway, don't try more than you already did. I don't want you to alienate her from her job." Smoker continued talking with the silent swordsman.

"She doesn't care about me enough in the first place to leave anything for me. She broke the kiss, just so you know, in case she didn't mention that." Zoro finished answering the Vice admiral who frowned at the response, "So you actually want her to join you? You stupid pirate." Smoker insulted the swordsman who found enough power in himself to yell back at the white haired marine. "Yes! I want her just for myself, is that too hard to understand?!" the yell echoed through the prisoner's quarters.

'What the hell? Why did he act like that yesterday then?' a certain dark haired marine lady thought to herself as she spied on the two collapsed fighters from a far. 'Damn, I hope she didn't hear that, or I hope she did. Ugh why is this romance thing so hard? Why can't I just show her everything in a sword fight or something?' Zoro questioned himself as he waited for Smoker's response to his yell. "Okay, I'd like to say something like no way, but she decides for herself.' Smoker answered the angry swordsman.

"But if she chooses to join you, you better keep her safe, or else I'll find you." Smoker threatened Zoro whose frown turned into a smirk. "Can I count that as a blessing, then?" Zoro teased the Vice admiral. "Shut your mouth or I'll shut it for you." a small tentacle-like cloud of smoke attempted to reach Zoro but failed and gave up halfway. "It's scary that you can do that much after the yesterday's brawl." Zoro complimented Smoker's attempt before going back to sleep and leaving the Vice admiral to enjoy the loud snores that emitted from the pirate.

'You can be really dumb sometimes, Smoker-san. To think that you would hand a marine Captain over to a pirate just like that. I'm disappointed.' Tashigi thought to herself as she pouted at the idea of being with a pirate. 'But then again, he's very handsome and he's such a great swordsman. NO! Shut up Tashigi, you can't think like that, he's a pirate.' Tashigi's thoughts tortured her as she imagined all sorts of things, 'Would I have to become a pirate? Geez, would he at least share his loot, sake and body with me?' Tashigi's cheeks reddened at her last thought.

'Oh no, no, no! No more thinking about the pirate life!' Tashigi ordered herself and went back to her room to relax a bit from that horrible conversation that her superior had with the damn pirate. About 12 hours later, the prisoner's quarters have finally opened again, and the Vice admiral walked out with bruises all over his body. "Medic team, help the Pirate Hunter and give me some ice." Smoker ordered the team that was awaiting their Vice admiral's return to the deck since last night.

"Yes, Smoker-yan!" the medic team's leader answered quickly and ordered his man around. Two medics rushed into the Prisoner's quarters, while the other two rushed to the kitchen, to get the ice for their bruised Vice admiral. "What's that in your bag, Smoker-yan?" The medic leader asked the Vice admiral. "I got his swords." Smoker answered with a painful smirk which made his whole face hurt even more. "In any other case I'd say good job, but from your expression I'm guessing that your cheek bone has cracked, we'll have to do a thorough check up on you." the medic told the white haired marine.

"Damn it, that bastard sure is strong." Smoker said his thoughts out loud as he touched a heavily bruised area on his cheek that hurt like hell itself. Meanwhile the medics that were helping Zoro, apologized for their attack on him the night before. "Don't let your Vice admiral hear you apologizing to a pirate." Zoro said with his typical smirk. And after a small chat, both medics left the cell and the swordsman was once again alone inside it.

'She didn't come to visit me today, I guess it serves me right for fighting her boss over a misunderstanding.' Zoro thought to himself as he leaned once again against the wooden wall of his cell and attempted to fall asleep, but to his surprise a meek voice interrupted him. A very familiar voice that he enjoyed hearing, it called out to him, called out that notorious nickname of his, "Pirate Hunter, wake up." Tashigi said with a blush that went unnoticed by the sleepy swordsman in the cell.

"I got these swords back for you so you could train me. I still need to become strong enough, right?" Tashigi asked the green haired pirate. And like he just heard an angel sing to him, a smile spread across his face. He felt like a child who just got his favourite toy back after being grounded. And the fact that he was going to train with her again was like music to his ears. He grabbed the swords through the iron bars, but what he didn't expect was such boldness on the young Captain's part.

Her hand touched his as she was handing him the swords and she came closer to the bars, it was just like that time yesterday. "I heard, wh-what you said to Smoker-san this morning." Tashigi whispered through stutters as she close her distance and was almost touching the bars of his cell. "I meant every word of it." Zoro quickly answered without a doubt in his mind and closed the distance between them. His biceps grew like when he did the strong slices, and his hands grabbed onto the two bars closest to her face.

Her hands parted the two iron bars with ease as their lips touched once again, the heaven's taste upon his lips. Those beautiful lips that he fell in love with. The lips he dreamed off the whole day while he lay there unconscious in his cell. He finally had them back within his reach and this time he wasn't going to let them go, no. This time there would be no awkward silences after it. This kiss was made without any care in the world, this kiss was more powerful than anything that used to separate them, be it pirates or marines.

Their minds were set on the same goal, and that goal was each other's heart.

 **I think it requires a few more chapters, so be on the lookout. :)**


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